RETURN OF THE COVEN!

This may look like a scene from Love Story, but in fact it was the moment when The Coven finally met up together in over a year.  All together now, ahhhh!

Well I am back from my month long stay in Utah.  To say that I had a fantastic time, is putting it mildly.  Most of that is down to the incredible kindness and graciousness showed to Mary, myself and eventually Alan when he arrived, by our hosts Janice and Roger and also their extended family.  Thank you Tea family.   Oh, and if anyone is thinking of visiting the Teas, get Alison to make you some cinnabons, they're delicious.

I must also say a particular thank you to Jason who not only taught us Brits the rules and technicalities of American football, a sissy game, where the men pad up and wear helmets (Huh, real men play rugby!), but who also arranged for us to do something I would not have done - the slickrock hummer ride.  Believe me, I may have stared death in the eyes and shouted him down, but I wouldn't know as my eyes were shut tight with tears seeping out, and my mouth was in a rictus with drool running out!

I got to visit the Tea's cabin twice.  The Coven used the time to walk around the area examining every cabin in detail, decrying ones we thought un-cabin like, bad use of space or badly designed.  Enroute we were stopped by an elderly gentleman working in his yard, who called us 'three cuties'.  Well, I guess at his age, our 50 plus years looked cute!

I also visited with Alan, who did the same walk, but just didn't have the right critiquing technique.  He happily sat on the deck with Roger, planning routes for the rest of our trip (thank you Roger!).

On the Coven week of my trip, we went to Moab.  There we visited Arches.  As my first foray into one of the National Parks, it was a great beginning.  The reds of the rock and the strange formations were just stunning.  Little did I know that I would use that word repeatedly as I visited park after park.

Janice and Mary, being braver than me (ie not frightened of heights), ventured further over the rock than I, as we climbed to view Delicate Arch.  On the funny side, whilst we were scrambling over rock and 'ooing' and ahhing' over the views, Mary had a mobile phone clamped to her ear, trying to negotiate a house purchase!

Canyonlands was a different sort of stunning.  It is hard to imagine, when looking down into the canyon, that the earth hasn't just dropped away, or that a giant extraterrestrial, hasn't placed a huge footstep into the earth's crust.

Dead Horse Point National Park had an interesting history.  Mary was almost sobbing at the cruelty of leaving horses stranded up on the point, to die of thirst in full view of water, because they were of no use to the cowboys who had rounded them up and picked out the best.

A lot of the photos we took have a sort of hazy quality to them.  During most of my trip, fires were raging in places like Colorado and California.  Even when the day looked clear, a quick look at the photos showed the haze.

After Mary left, Janice and I visited Antelope Island, where we saw hundreds of buffalo.  That was such a thrill for me.  One crossed the road, right behind our car.  Funnily, we only saw about three antelopes.

The Tea's home has a view over to Antelope Island with its amazing sunsets.  One evening, everything was just right, and I caught the most beautiful sunset.

The Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, was our destination on Alan's first Sunday, as both wanted to see and hear the famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

This was a very moving experience.  The choir sang exquisitely, and in particular sang a song at the end that moved me to tears.  It is not a religious service, there are no teachings or sermons, they just sang uplifting music, and believe me, hearing them sing 'Oh What A Beautiful Morning', truly was uplifting.

No visit to Salt Lake City is complete without a visit to Dick's world famous bakery.  Yes, you know it right?  Of course you do, everyone knows Dick's!  Their billboards proclaim that the eclair was invented in Paris but perfected at...Dick's!

Ha ha, I don't know about that, but they do make a mean, calorie laden, artery furring apple fritter.  Wow, I can taste that sugar just thinking about it.  I introduced Janice to this evil of evils and so she too was hooked.  We were physically unable to drive past without buying one for the next day's breakfast.  It was amazing how many places you can visit in Utah, that take you right past Dick's world famous bakery!